Mohammad Farouk Tayfour is the deputy comptroller general of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and the deputy chairman of the Syrian National Council. He has occupied several leadership positions within the movement and is also its most influential organizational and political figure.
Along with Brotherhood comptroller general Mohammad Riad al-Shaqfeh and Shura Council head Mohammad Hatem al-Tabshi, Tayfour is one of a triumvirate of Hama natives who now hold the reins of power within the Brotherhood. Tayfour was one of several figures who disagreed with the policies of former Brotherhood comptroller general Ali Sadreddine al-Bayanouni. Tensions allegedly peaked when al-Bayanouni attempted to refer Tayfour to the Brotherhood’s internal court because of the latter’s opposition to his authoritarian leadership style. Tayfour was chosen as the new deputy chairman of the Syrian National Council upon the election of a new general secretariat on November 9, 2012.
Born in the city of Hama, Tayfour left his position as an engineer in Saudi Arabia to devote himself to field work with the Muslim Brotherhood. In 1979, he joined the Combatant Vanguard, which seceded from the Muslim Brotherhood to undertake anti-regime armed struggle. Tayfour served as deputy to led by Riad al-Shaqfeh, who had also joined the Combatant Vanguard, before leaving Syria at the beginning of the 1980s along with other Brotherhood leaders.